Rejected and in Heat

Abandoned

Maya left him to his thoughts, hoping a rift wasn’t forming between their friendship. After a quick shower, she changed into a pink tank top and matching flannel pajama pants. It wasn’t cold enough for them, but she liked the soft fabric against her skin. She threw together a chef's salad for dinner but, after a second look at it, decided to throw a pizza in the oven. She needed comfort food. While waiting for the pizza to finish, she pulled out a box of cosmic brownies and grabbed a Coke from the refrigerator.

Tonight, she was going into a sugar coma. Her phone gave a ping, and she saw it was a text from her mom. They had made it to their hotel and would have dinner with friends. She texted back and decided to call Stacy. “Hey, how’s it going? Me, no, not really any better. I would say worse. Yeah, I think it’s a stomach virus. Oh, that’s great. No, I haven’t heard anything....” she listened as Stacy talked about their day and the upcoming school events.

Things that seemed so far removed from her, that it made her want to cry again. The timer went off, and she put the phone on her shoulder and pulled the pizza out of the oven. Josh walked through the kitchen and didn’t even glance her way as he grabbed his car keys. "I’ll be gone for a little while. Do you think you can manage? Stay inside with the doors locked. If anyone tries to get into the house, you must go straight to the safe room.” Maya’s face scrunched up, “Hey, Stacey, hold on just a moment. Josh is trying to tell me something.”

She put her friend on mute and stared at his back, “I’m not a child; you don’t have to tell me what to do. I’ll be fine," was her scolding reply. Josh sighed, “If someone happens by and you’re outside, they will smell you, and you will be in danger. Stay in the house, Maya.” He didn’t wait for a reply; he opened the door and jumped into his truck. She stood there for a minute, watching him drive away. Shaking her head, she put the phone to her ear. “Hey, Stace, what were you saying?” Her eyes narrowed. “No, I haven’t. Yes, I remember, oh really?”

It took every ounce of control she had to keep her voice under control. Her hand gripped the dining chair so hard the wood began to splinter. She laughed, “I can’t believe old cow-eyed Sarah is Luna material. Really? She said she was Dustin’s Chosen. Well, have either of them met their fated mates? I mean it’s so early to pick a chosen.” She listened to Stacy gossip for a few more minutes, then cut her short, “Oh, Stace, my stomach is gurgling. I better go! Text ya later, bye!” Then she ended the call. She slammed her fist onto the table.

“How dare he! Why would he choose that dog-faced b***h over me? His fated! The one that the Moon Goddess specifically chose to be his perfect match. Well, f**k him! His stupid little speech about not wanting a mate, what bull s**t," she screamed into the empty house. "I don’t need him. I don’t want him. I’m fine alone. I don’t need any man. I can handle this life on my own. I hope they’re miserable together and have lots of ugly cow-eyed, dog-faced, cowardly babies.” She finished ranting to the empty kitchen, then grabbed a slice of pizza and her coke and stormed off to her room to sulk.

She flipped through Netflix shows for hours, grumbling about worthless men. Suddenly, her heat hit her hard. Arousal mixed with so much pain was more than anyone should have to endure. Her temperature spiked, and the pain in her stomach was so intense it doubled her over. She balled up in her bed, fighting the pain. She didn't know how long she had been there, but her clothes were soaked in sweat, and she began to feel delirious. Her thoughts raced between the two men in her life. First, she envisioned Dustin standing before her. Her mind replayed his rejection over and over again. “I, Dustin Black, of the Red Cedar pack, reject you, Maya Lopez, of the White Oak pack, as my mate.” Between the memory loop, it enticed her with false visions of them embracing.

“Maya, you smell so good. I knew you were mine the moment the breeze caught your hair,” she imagined him saying. She remembered his scent and desperately wanted his touch to soothe her aching body. Sweat beaded on her skin, and she threw off the blanket as best she could without uncurling her tormented body. She was so incoherent she begged and pleaded with Dustin to accept her and end her suffering. “What? No! You don’t mean it. I promise, just tell me what you want me to be. I’ll do anything you want. Be anyone you need. Just don’t leave me.” Each vision ended with him walking away from her. “Please, Dustin, I need you. It hurts so badly. Just give us a chance. Maybe just a kiss will change your mind. Surely, you feel the pull of the mate bond. Do you feel nothing?”

Her breast felt enlarged and sensitive. Every inch of her skin felt tingly, and the slightest touch sent shivers through her body. Her p***y throbbed and dripped in anticipation of a touch that was never coming. She wasn’t even aware of reality at that point. She heard her phone ring and saw Josh’s picture on her screen. She couldn’t break free of her mind enough to answer it. Instead, her visions twisted. She was mingling fact and fiction, twisting desires and events.

Now, she saw herself begging Josh to help her as he walked away. “Please? I know you don’t want me. You would never choose me, but just give me this weekend. I can’t take it anymore.” Tears streamed down her face. She had no concept of time as she pleaded with her hallucinations. Whimpers turned to pleading and screams. “Please, Josh, don’t leave me too. Am I that awful that no one wants me?" Her hair was matted with sweat on her head, and her eyes were glazed over as her voice filled her empty room.

"Why me? What did I do to deserve this? I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I'm not what you want. Could you just help me, " she pleaded as sobs wracked her body, and her voice began to get hoarse. Her words were barely making sense. Snot ran down her upper lip, and little bits of spit flew from her mouth as she screamed in agony. "I'm sorry. Please, help me." Those words became her mantra, over and over again. Her hands tore at her shirt, leaving its shredded form clinging to her body. She could barely handle the clothes touching her skin. She looked like something from a horror movie if anyone had been there to see it. Today was worse than the rejection. She never knew she could hurt so much. It felt like her heart would come out of her chest. She was mentally exhausted, and she felt as if she were physically dying. She had been so wrong to think she could do this alone. If this is what she would endure every 3-4 months, she needed serious help.

At some point, she blacked out, but her respite didn’t last long enough before the delusions started over. She saw herself as she straddled Josh and began grinding on him. At first, she thought he was enjoying himself too. He felt so good under her, even if he wasn’t touching her. Her head was tilted back, and she bit her lip as she felt his erection under her core. “Oh f**k yes. That feels so good. I need to c*m. Josh, I need you to touch me.” That’s when her mind attacked. Josh pushed her away, and she slid onto the floor at his feet. “Touch you? Why would I touch you? You're just an inexperienced girl. Do you think I could enjoy your fumbling? How many women have you seen me with? There is no way you could satisfy me. Your own Fated didn’t even want you.” He stepped around her and walked out of the room. The tears started again, and the pain in her stomach intensified. She felt the bile rising in her throat, and she tried to get up from her bed but was too weak.

The room around her spun, and her limbs felt heavy as she tried to move them. She slumped half off the bed and vomited onto the floor, knocking her lamp off the nightstand in the process. She didn’t even have the energy to pull herself back up. She hung there crying and begging him one more time. She was too weak even to scream. Her voice croaked out bits and pieces as she cried, “Ack.. ah...please...don’t....anything. I swear anything...ah..” her sobs sounded like a mix of a dying man’s gasps and whale noises. She tried to suppress them and make whole sentences but couldn’t. She was in full panic and no longer in control of her body or mind. She lay there with one arm reaching for the door, her legs curled into her chest in an attempt to control her pain, her head down and tears streaming as she wailed like a mad woman.

Josh needed some air. The guilt of his choices was eating at him. He cared about Cathy. He had even toyed with the idea of her being his chosen. Maya was like family. He hadn’t even given much thought to her growing up. Now faced with her as a s****l partner, he didn’t know what to do. He punched the steering wheel. He didn’t have anywhere to go and had been driving back roads for hours. What the hell has he gotten himself into? She was 16, for f***s sake; how did he expect her to separate the physical and emotional from any intimacy they shared? How were they going to go back to normal?

Mark would beat him to a pulp if he found out. John and Mary would kick him out of the house. s**t, they would probably never speak to him again. He looked at his phone and saw it was after midnight. “f**k, f**k, f**k!” He yelled into the empty cab of his truck. He had no answers and hadn’t planned to leave her alone for so long. There is no way she wasn’t feeling the symptoms of her heat after this long. She would call him if she got too uncomfortable, right? Hmm. Probably not after the way he acted this afternoon. She was good at reading people’s moods. Even without saying anything, she knew his thoughts were heavy.

He pulled onto another street to head home and tried to call her. After several rings, it went to voicemail. Maybe she was asleep? That was probably wishful thinking. Crap, surely she wouldn’t call some horny high school friend to help her! He laid on the gas in a hurry to get back. His mind was racing with worry. No one had come by the house and found her. Even if they did, she was smart enough to go to the safe room, right? He tore down the long driveway, and the house came into view. The porch light was on, and he could see a light in her bedroom window.

Everything else was dark. He jumped out of the truck and went inside. As soon as he entered the front door, something fell off. He didn’t smell any other wolves in the house. “Maya? Are you okay?" He called out to her. He paused at the bottom of the stairs, listening for any sounds. The pungent odor of vomit wafted down to him, and his nose scrunched. Something was wrong. He bounded up the stairs two at a time and opened her door. His eyes searched the room wildly before absorbing the scene before him.

She lay there half hanging off the bed with a pool of vomit on the floor beneath her. Her face was swollen and tear-stained. Was she drunk? “Maya," he called to her. She lifted her head, but her eyes didn’t see him. They were glazed over, and she spoke as if he were someone else. “Please, I can’t take it anymore.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “I promise...anything. I’ll do it. Just don’t leave me again.” His heart constricted, and guilt flooded him. Did she think he was her mate, or did she mean him? He hadn’t meant to leave her for so long. He side-stepped the mess on the floor and reached for her. Her skin was on fire, and she whimpered in pain as he picked her up. He carried her bridal style out of the room and into the bathroom.